Final thoughts on the media's “punch drunk” nonsense

Comes courtesy of the Washington Times' Suzanne Fields [emphasis added]:

Even laughter can be suspect. Steve Croft [sic], the president's interviewer on “60 Minutes,” suggested Mr. Obama might be “punch drunk” when he chuckled aloud in discussing the crash of the economy.

This really is just Misinformation 101--plainly misstating the facts in order to make the president look bad. As we noted earlier this week, when Kroft (inappropriately) asked Obama if he was “punch drunk,” the president was absolutely not laughing while “discussing the crash of the economy,” which so many lazy journalists have claimed.

Fact: Obama laughed at how the only thing less popular today than the government bailing out the banks, is the government bailing out America's car manufacturers. That was the “gallows humor” Obama referenced. He also chuckled when Kroft presented him an a clearly preposterous scenario about how angry bankers might to go work for hedge funds.

The circumstances surrounding the brief laughs were specific, but many in the press presented them in the most general, and damning, way imaginable [emphasis added]:

--Politico claimed Obama laughed “several times while discussing the perilous state of the world's economy.”

--The Los Angles Times announced, “President Barack Obama was laughing when being asked about the nation's failing economy on '60 Minutes' Sunday night.”

--US News & World Report's Bonnie Erbe wrote that Obama was, " joking about the depressed economy."

--NBC's Today reported that Obama got called out by Kroft “for laughing about the economy.”

--Fox News highlighted the 60 Minutes interview “in which President Obama laughed about the economy.”

It's embarrassing enough that the press spends so much time on trivial topics such as Obama's laugh. That so many journalists can't, or won't, accurately state the facts surrounding the 'story' is even more lame.